Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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returning to the council in the fall with more information. Mr. Zelenka pointed out $10 million could not purchase much in terms of new building but it might be able to leverage construction. He wanted to see more analysis of his suggestion. City Manager Jon Ruiz said staff would return with more financial information after it had a better sense of the programming to be located in a new city hall. Mr. Poling suggested it would have been interesting to see what the design studio would have come up with had it not been limited to renovation of the existing building. He approved of the proposed advisory committee and thought its purpose was clear. He suggested it should include someone familiar with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employee, a local historian who could help incorporate elements of the current City Hall into a new building design, and someone with a proven background in building design and energy efficiency. He preferred a committee that included members without a strong opinion on renovation or new construction. Mr. Pryor emphasized the need for the City to vacate City Hall. In regard to the advisory committee, his most important criteria for committee membership would be thoughtfulness and an open mind. He did not want a committee with members who came to the table with their minds made up. He acknowledged that the City had been discussing the issue for some time but things had changed and he was encouraged by the City’s more realistic approach to the replacement of City Hall. Mr. Clark was interested in Mr. Zelenka’s idea about leveraging the money the City had in hand. However, he would want the council to be clear about the problem it was attempting to fix and whether it was a political problem or a financing problem. He feared that if the council attempted something too grand it would end up with a political problem. Speaking to Mr. Poling’s suggestions for committee membership, Mr. Clark pointed out members of the City’s Accessibility Committee were familiar with the ADA. Mayor Piercy encouraged staff to ask the Historic Review Board for its input. Ms. Taylor agreed with the mayor. She asked that the advisory committee’s minority opinions be shared with the council as well as the majority opinions. She thought that it was a good idea to involve employees. Ms. Taylor said that resident Otto Poticha also had ideas about how the City could remodel the existing City Hall while still remaining in the building. She recalled that many of the architects who participated at all-day charette on a new city hall held in 2002 at The Atrium believed the City could remodel City Hall, but when the council received the staff recommendation that fact was not mentioned. Mr. Penwell recalled that all the ideas that were mentioned at the charette were included in the final report. Ms. Taylor thought the proposed funding sources sounded good. She recommended that the City dedicate the General Capital Transfer to City Hall for several years rather than one year because the structure had been neglected for some time. She suggested the City consider grants as a funding source to preserve the building because there were several grant sources dedicated to such purposes. She also recommended staff consider using the EWEB Contribution-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (CILT) as a funding source. Mr. Zelenka likened the proposed advisory committee to a department advisory committee with a specific focus and short time frame that required knowledgeable members. He did not object to the proposed committee and its composition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2011 Page 3 Work Session